Tag: Story and Prose

Building Your Story From First Line to First Draft

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment
Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

No doubt you’ve heard about the importance of the firsts in writing—the first line, the first paragraph, the first page, the first scene, the first draft. Each “first” has its own role to perform. It must contain certain elements for the story to work, just like pieces of a giant puzzle. Every element must fit together.

Why are they important? How can you make them as compelling as possible so your manuscript doesn’t end up in the editor’s slush pile? Here’s what you need to know about each of these “firsts” to readers, agents and editors won’t stop reading.

The first line

There is some debate about the importance of the opening sentence. Some say it has to grab the reader from the get-go and hint at the conflict to come. Others say it’s more important to focus on the first paragraph which gives readers more information about what’s to come.  

“The first sentence alone doesn’t give readers enough information or the writer enough room. The paragraph gives enough room and direction to write your book,” says John Matthew Fox in a guest post on JaneFriedman.com.

I’m inclined to agree with Fox. I’ve read a few doozies of opening lines for some wonderful stories, but most of the time, opening lines are rather lackluster. I still kept reading anyway, and the stories were just as readable.

I see the first sentence as the first blow of a balloon. You won’t see much result from your effort of blowing, but with sustained effort, that first line serves as the starting point for something bigger.

The first paragraph

The first paragraph should make a strong first impression, stronger even than the first line. It should give readers enough information about the story to decide if they want to keep reading.

John Matthew Fox says opening paragraphs contain four critical elements:

  • Characterization – Readers need to learn something about the main character. It could be a dilemma they’re grappling with, some deep emotion they’re feeling or some puzzle they’re trying to solve. Readers need to know something about them that makes them relate to the character, or makes them want to root for them in the story.
  • Energy/tone – The first paragraph should bring a certain energy to the story. A rom-com, for example, will be written with a light-hearted tone, while a horror story might have a darker, creepier tone
  • Mystery or conflict – The opening paragraph should hint at some question or conflict that needs to be resolved. For example, why a complete stranger is watching someone else from a distance.
  • Emotion – Finally, the first paragraph should exude some emotion to hook the reader, whether that’s fear, grief or disappointment.  


The first page

At an average length of 250 to 300 words, the opening page has to do a lot of things in a short amount of time to kick the story into high gear. It’s the heavy lifter of all the firsts.

In a recent weekly newsletter, Karyn Fischer of Story & Prose outlines the common elements of the first page.

* Character and desire – What does the character want? The first paragraph might have hinted at this, but the opening page goes into more depth.
* Conflict and stakes – What or who opposes the main character in getting what they want?  * Voice – Fischer says it’s often difficult to pinpoint voice, but you might detect it through the way they speak or think. Does their voice sound true to life?
*Setting and world-building – The first page should give readers a sense of where they are in the story. Perhaps it’s a birthday party in someone’s home, the site of a car accident or a courtroom. Don’t overload the story with setting details, but sprinkle them throughout to give a sense of time and place.
* Action – Make sure the character is doing something, whether it’s baking a cake or being chased by thieves.
* Genre – Depending on the genre, the opening page should hint at the type of story people are reading. In historical fiction, for example, the first page might have visual cues that show time and place.

First scene/first chapter

I’ve combined the first scene and chapter into one section for a couple of reasons. First, they consist of the same elements and strive to accomplish the same goals. Second, a chapter may consist of a single scene, or several.

While the first page does a lot of work to prepare readers for what’s next in the story, the first scene or chapter ramps up the effort. In addition to doing what the first page does, the first scene or chapter does more, such as:

* Introduce other compelling characters that will either support or antagonize the main character.
* It grounds the reader into the story, providing more details about what the protagonist is dealing with.
* It continues to build on the tone established in the first page.
* It provides the hook that will keep readers turning the page.
* Depending on the story, the first chapter (not necessarily the first scene) should contain the inciting incident, the situation that gets the story moving.

By the end of the first scene or chapter, readers should know enough about the main character and their plight to determine if they like the character and empathize with their situation. If readers don’t find anything to like about the character, it’s likely they’ll give up on the story.

First 50 pages

The first 50 pages are important because it’s those pages that many editors and agents will review to determine if it’s worth reading—and publishing. It’s also a litmus test for readers. If the story loses its steam, readers will lose interest before they get to that 50-page mark. More specifically, the first 50 pages:

* Give readers, agents and editors an impression of your writing style.
* Includes the inciting incident and shows the raising of the stakes
* Shows the initial progress in the protagonist’s character arc. How will they grow or progress as the story moves forward?

First draft

When you finish writing your first draft, you might think your work is done. But it’s only just starting. The editing and rewriting process is where the real creativity begins, experts suggest.

The first draft, in all its messy glory, should contain the spine of the story—namely the who, what, when, where, why and how. It has three main goals:

* Helps you get all your ideas down on paper, from characters and their backstory to setting and dialogue.
* It helps you lay out the major plot points.
* It provides a road map for how to proceed during the revision process.  

If all goes well at each of these “first” elements, then it’s only a matter of time before you enjoy the next first in your professional writing life—publishing your first book.

Best Tips from the Writing Brave Summit             

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment
Photo by Roy Reyna on Pexels.com

Recently, I attended The Writing Brave Summit, a virtual meeting hosted by Brooke Adams Law. The event featured interviews and webinars by authors, editors and publishing experts who shared insights and tips about writing. The summit covered fiction, non-fiction and memoir writing so participants could pick and choose the sessions that they were most interested in.

As a fiction writer, I walked away armed with renewed enthusiasm for my work. I’ve compiled some of the best tips I heard from these professionals and share them with you below. Hopefully, they can help you as much as they’ve helped me.

Tip 1: If your story is stuck, it may be a problem with your protagonist not the plot. It’s not about raising the temperature in the story or adding a new plot twist, said editor and book coach Daniel David Wallace. What may be needed is to raise the temperature on your protagonist. Make sure your main character is fully engaged with the action, making decisions for good or bad about what to do next. That will keep the story moving forward. Focus on developing the character first, including goals and motivation, then develop the plot.

Tip 2: Write scenes from perspective of one POV character. It’s easier to write a story when you have one Point-of-view character per scene, said Savannah Bilbo, developmental editor and book coach. When you switch POVs within a scene with no defined break, it can be confusing for the reader.

Within each scene, give the POV character a goal, something they want to achieve. That could be getting advice from a friend or gathering some key information or take care of a problem. Also make sure the POV character has agency, that they are the one dealing with the conflict and making decisions.  Without that mini-goal and decision-making role, the character isn’t realistic and can’t engage with the action of the story (which piggybacks onto my previous point.)

Tip 3: Use interiority to get into the mind and heart of the POV character. Make sure the POV character reacts internally to everything that happens in the scene, not just what they think and feel, but what they plan to do about the problem they face, said Karyn Fischer with Story and Prose. Interiority matters for several reasons:

  • It provides context for the action
  • It’s the inside story
  • It leads to character transformation.
  • It allows readers to feel the emotion
  • It allows readers to follow the logic of the POV character
  • It connects to the character’s voice

    Tip 4: Create conflict between characters by developing opposing personality traits. Writer and book coach Kat Caldwell described the Big 5 personality traits of POV characters: conscientiousness (highly vigilant vs. complacent), agreeableness (People pleaser vs. cranky curmudgeon), Extraversion (outgoing and engaging vs. reserved), neuroticism as a reaction to stress (anxious/worrier vs. laid-back); and openness to new experiences (willing to try anything new vs. fearing change of any kind)

To use the Big 5, Caldwell suggested creating a main POV character who is out of balance with one of these personality traits. Then develop a side character or secondary lead character with the opposite trait. Alternately, you can choose a different imbalance for a side character. For example, a POV character that ranks high in agreeableness and wants to please people while her best friend is more open to change and will try anything new and thus encourage the POV character to try new things.

Tip 5: Try intuitive outlining to plan your story. If you’re not a fan of plotting or using formulas to plan your story, try intuitive outlining. This is a hybrid approach that combines the power of your own innate creativity and intuition with a loose, flexible plotting structure.

Not everyone has the ability to plan their story from scene A to scene B to scene C. Maybe you think of individual scenes but you’re not sure in which order they should be presented.  That’s okay, says Lewis Jorstad, The Novel Smithy.

“Our brains have a natural way of telling stories,” he said. Over our lifetimes, our brain has acquired an  innate sense of storytelling because it’s been exposed to different stories over the years—through books, movies, TV shows, verbal exchanges, author readings, blogs and social media, podcasts, etc. We’ve all learned how to tell stories. We just may not understand how to put them together.  

In intuitive outlining, the focus is on developing scenes as you think of them rather than developing them to fit some kind of pre-ordained formula. You let your intuition guide you.

That leads into Tip 6.

Tip 6: Think and write scenes rather than chapters. Scenes are where the action takes place while chapters are merely arbitrary breaks in the story and can sometimes contain more than one scene, which can make it difficult to work with and reorganize.

Because scenes are smaller, self-contained pieces, that makes them easier to write. They’re like puzzle pieces that can be mixed and matched and moved around. Jorstad suggests writing scenes as you think of them, then arranging them in the order they might appear in your story. Then if you see gaps in the story’s action, write additional scenes as needed, but not to complete some arbitrary formula.

Do any of these tips resonate with you? Have you learned any cool writing techniques that have helped transform your writing?